Definitely the most important game to be talked about in this time's issue of ST NEWS is the latest Martech release, "Vixen". This issue is dedicated to Ms. Vixen herself: Corinne Russell (see this time's piccy), and we therefore considered it more than appropriate to supply you with an extensive "Vixen" review.

ILL-TEMPERED WOMEN AND SHE-FOXES

The first thing that struck me, was the fact that the word "Vixen" was already known to my "1st Word Plus" spelling checker without me having to add it to its dictionary (this might sound stupid, especially if you live in an English speaking country, but you must keep on remembering that I am Dutch and that I merely thought "Vixen" to be a fantasy name for a game). Since I suspect that there are more people out there that do not know what "Vixen" means, I'll hereby supply you with what my Chamber's Twentieth Century Dictionary (1942 edition) said about it:

One could have known this already after having seen the front cover of the package (as well as the large poster): A possibly 'ill-tempered' but ever so prodigious girl, clad in very little else except a designer leopard-skin bikini. No doubt, summer started at that very same instant as far as I was concerned - at least the temperatures (or were it just my temperatures?!) suddenly seemed to be rising rapidly. Outside, I could still vaguely sense the cats and dogs falling on my attic window and the deep grey sky. Was it actually thundering, too?

PLAYING THE GAME

Not letting the package go out of my amazed gaze, I inserted the disk in the drive and booted the game. After a couple of seconds, I was blown off my socks by a brilliantly digitized and well proportioned impression of Ms. Russell's ubiquity. So I got hold of my joystick and waited for things to come.

After a while (I was quite eager, so I was glad it didn't take a long time to load), I could start playing the game. In "Vixen", the player controls Corinne (or should I say: Vixen? I think Corinne's a nicer name), whipping her way through a dense jungle filled on a planet called Granath with the strangest creatures - varying from small elephants on caterpillar tracks to man-high monsters that defy rational description. Mankind as well as most other mammals have been destroyed by reptilians, and Corinne's the only one left. Our powerful lone female (LONE?! Why didn't she phone ME?!?) is the only match for her foes, and she has to whip 'em to death. While doing that, bonuses (such as GEMs and KILLs need to be collected). When done properly, she'll change from the gracefully moving female into a beautifully animated she-fox.

The graphics in the game are up to high standards, and I cannot stop to be amazed by the way in which the programmer actually made her walk like a woman (!); many programmers have difficulty enough with animating a male on the screen (which really isn't that difficult, as men move far more clumsily than women), but what this man has done....it, again, defies description!

COMMENTS

Since this is a software review, too, I really can't keep on talking about this mindstirring girl and not even about the way in which she has been converted into this amazing computer game. What about the quality of the game? What about the music and the graphics? As one might have noticed above, I was literally flattened by the title picture (see this time's ST NEWS piccy). The other graphics are also quite excellent - Corinne's not a mere 'blob' as often to be seen in other games (including the 8-bit versions of "Vixen", I'm afraid) but a shape with recognizable forms. Excellent! The monsters in the game are not as well animated as Vixen herself, though still quite realistic. The background are well done, too. I only think the scrolling (horizontal) could've been and should've been better. The music was done by Jason C. Brooke, according to some of my friends "a rising star at the firmament of music programmers". The music is indeed very well done, and gets very close to the Commodore 64 version of the tune (as we all know, the 64's sound chip IS much better than the ST's and this is thus a compliment for the ST version). Concluding, one may say that "Vixen" is not merely a game sold on the back of Corinne Russell (although that has no doubt contributed to its success); it's a good game altogether, which is fun to play and becomes more and more difficult as one advances through the levels. The scrolling could have been better, but that's about the only 'negative' thing I can come up with.

Now, what about the Vixen that's wipping her way through the aforementioned jungle? While writing this review, I got a sudden urge to contact whoever I had to contact to get to know more about her. After spending far too much money on the telephone (I hope I'm already moved to study at Utrecht university when the bill arrives) I finally got through to Ms. Russell. My heart was beating in my throat and my sweating hands were hardly able to hold the note on which I had written down the most personal questions I could ask. Anyway, as some of you might know already from the many pictures that were published in recent months, Corinne, having spent 24 springs on this beautiful earth, is a gorgeous blonde with breathtaking green eyes, 1.73 metres tall. She's been trained as a dancer, both classical and modern, and used to be one of the girls present in the good old "Benny Hill Show" (a Benny Hill-Billie). Her hobbies are dancing, rollerskating, horseriding and...acrobatics! After finding all this out, I finally went to the most crucial question that will probably be of interest to most of you: Had she already entered into a state of matrimony, or was she perhaps in another way 'spoken for'? Well, the answer was a considerable relief: She's SINGLE! Ooof. The last question I asked her was very intimate indeed. And this is the question you will need to find out the answer to for yourself in the...

VIXEN COMPETITION!!

Yes! Once again, ST NEWS organizes a great competition! We have FIVE SIGNED COPIES OF "VIXEN" (WITH POSTER) to give away to the lucky people who know the answer to the following question:--

The ones that come closest to Corinne's actual measurements will get the prizes - and when these are too many, we will probably give them to whoever sent the most beautiful post card! Members or employees of the editorial staff of ST NEWS or any of the participating companies are not eligible to enter.

Oh yes; we are very sorry that we cannot let the winners go to London to check Corinne's sizes for themselves...

OKAY, NOW...

Many thanks have to go to Debbie "blushing" Allen (Martech), who put me into contact with Barrington Harvey PR (thanks to Nadia Singh) and who arranged the prizes - also thanks that we were allowed to use the title pic in this issue of ST NEWS! And, of course, many thanks and kisses (very funny, ED.) to Ms. Corinne Russell: If you ever hop over to Holland, you may consider yourself invited to a nice candlelight dinner on my 10 by 10 feet student's room in Utrecht if you want to...